Amasyalıdır. Amasya’nın cenûb-i garbisinde kâin Kayabaşı Mahallesi’nden ve meşâhîr-i züamâdan Pehlivânzâde Mehmed Bey bin Ahmed Bey bin Dursun Bey’in mahdûmudur. Gâyet gürbüz ve tîr-endâz bir pehlivân olduğu münâsebetle Sultân Murâd Hân-ı Râbi’ tarafından genç iken hâs ahûr hademesi meyanına idhâl edildi.
Enderûn sarayında okuyup yazma öğrendi. İyi bir terbiye görüp tefeyyüz ederek Bayram Paşa sadâretinde hâs ahûr kethüdâsı, 1049 senesi zilhiccesinde mir-i ahûr-ı sânî oldu. Büyük mîr-i ahûrların istirkâbından dolayı 1054 senesi şa’bânında Amasya mîr-livâlığı ile ihrâc edilip Girit Harbine me’mûr oldu.
Sene-i mezbûre zilhiccesinde Girit Harbinde büyük yararlıklar [561] gösterdiğinden Sivas Beylerbeyi ve Anadolu ser-askeri, 1055 senesi şevvâlinde ber-vech-i hass Amasya mutasarrıfı ve Girit serdârı, 1056 zilhiccesinde sânîyen Sivas Beylerbeyi ve Anadolu ser-askeri oldu.
1057 cumâdelûlâsında Konya Beylerbeyi 1058 şa’bânında sâlisen Amasya mutasarrıfı olup yine Girit harbine me’mûr oldu. Gösterdiği liyâkât üzerine sene-i mezbûre şevvâlinde Anadolu Beylerbeyi ve 1059’da salisen Sivas vâlîsi ve 1060 şa’bânında vezâretle Boğaz muhâfızı ve râbi’en Amasya mutasarrıfı oldu.
1063 zilka’desinde Amasya Sancağı yerine Kayseriyye Sancağı verildi. 1064’de Budin vâlîsi olup Macaristan’a gitdi. 1065 senesi şa’bânında ma’zûlen İstanbul’a gelip 1066 senesi saferinde hâmisen Amasya Sancağı uhdesine has verilerek Boğaz’a gönderildi.
1067 şa’bânında Sadr-ı a’zam Köprülü Mehmed Paşa Boğaz ve Çanakkale harbine serdâr oldukta sadâret kâ’im-makâmı olarak İstanbul’a geldi. Ancak Kara Hasanzâde Hüseyin Ağa’nın mekrine uyup tahsîl-i sadârete sâ’î olduğu söylenmekle [562] sene-i mezbûre zilhicce evâhirinde azliyle Konya valiliğine i’zâm edildi.
1071 senesi recebinin üçüncü günü Girit serdârı ve muhâfızı olup Hânya’da yıllarca mensî bir halde ikâmet etdi. 1081’de Kandiye fethinde yararlıklar gösterdiği halde serdâr-ı ekrem Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa tarafından isnâd-ı rehâvet edilerek Girit muhâfızı unvânı ile Resmo’da ikâmete me’mûr oldu.
1087 senesi şa’bânında Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa’nın vefâtıyla Merzifonî Kara Mustafa Paşa’nın sadâretinde biraz iltifât görüp, Girit vâlîsi ve 1089 senesi şevvâlinin yedisinde altıncı defa “ber-vech-i hâs” ile Amasya mutasarrıfı olduğu halde 1092 senesi muharreminin yirmi birinci günü Resmo’da vefât etdi.
Müdebbir, muktedir, gâyet şecî’, hüsn-i idârede mâhîr “Örümcek” demekle târîhen ve “Kayalı Paşa” demekle Amasya’da pek meşhûr idi. Resmo’da binâ eylediği câmii şerîfin minâresi dibinde medfûndur. Kabrini ziyâret ve seng-i mezârında mahkûk olan kitâbeyi tahrîr etmişdim. Hayfâ ki yandı.
Hânya, Kandiye ve Resmo’da câmileri, mektepleri ve [563] evkâfı vardır. Kezâlik vatanı olan Kayabaşı’nda bir câmi ve bir mektep binâ⁶¹ ve Kayabaşı malikânesini de bu hayrâtın mesâlihine vakfetdi. Bir kerîmesi Ümmihânî Hanım ma’rûf olup dâmâdı Amasyalı Hacı Nebîzâde Şeyhü’l-harem Ali Efendi bin Ahmed Ağa’dır. Hemşîrezâdesi Ser-mimâr-ı hâssa Amasyalı Hasan Efendi bin Hüseyin Bey Ümmihânî Hanım’ın vekil-i umûru olduğu vakfiyeleriyle müsbetdir.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of Pehlivânzâde Mehmed Bey son of Ahmed Bey son of Dursun Bey, one of the famous zeamet holders, from the Kayabaşı Quarter southwest of Amasya. Because he was of very strong build and a master archer and wrestler, he was taken at a young age by Sultan Murad IV among the servants of the imperial stables (has ahır).
He studied and learned to write in the Enderun Palace. Having received a good education and risen, he became kethüda of the imperial stables in the grand vizierate of Bayram Pasha, and in Zilhicce 1049 second mîr-i ahûr (second imrahor). Because the senior imrahors could not bear him, in Şaban 1054 he was removed from the palace with the mirlivalık (sanjak governorship) of Amasya and assigned to the Cretan War.
In Zilhicce of the same year, because he showed great service in the Cretan War, he became Beylerbeyi of Sivas and seraskeri of Anatolia; in Şevval 1055, Amasya mutasarrıf as a special (has) holding and serdar of Crete; and in Zilhicce 1056, for the second time Beylerbeyi of Sivas and seraskeri of Anatolia.
In Cemâziyelevvel 1057 he became Beylerbeyi of Konya; in Şaban 1058, for the third time mutasarrıf of Amasya, and was again assigned to the Cretan war. On account of the competence he showed, in Şevval of the same year he became Beylerbeyi of Anatolia, in 1059 governor of Sivas for the third time, and in Şaban 1060, with the rank of vizier, guardian of the Bosphorus and mutasarrıf of Amasya for the fourth time.
In Zilkâde 1063 the Sanjak of Kayseri was given in place of the Sanjak of Amasya. In 1064 he became governor of Buda and went to Hungary. In Şaban 1065 he was dismissed and came to Istanbul; in Safer 1066 the Sanjak of Amasya was given to him as a has holding for the fifth time, and he was sent to the Bosphorus.
In Şaban 1067, when Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha became serdar for the war of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, he came to Istanbul as kaymakam of the grand vizierate. But since it was said that he had fallen for the trick of Kara Hasanzâde Hüseyin Ağa and tried to seize the grand vizierate, at the end of Zilhicce of the same year he was dismissed and sent to the governorship of Konya.
On the third day of Receb 1071 he became serdar and guardian of Crete and lived for years forgotten in Chania. In 1081, although he had shown service in the conquest of Candia, he was accused of slackness by the Commander-in-Chief Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha and was assigned to reside in Rethymno with the title of guardian of Crete.
On the death of Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha in Şaban 1087, he received some attention in the grand vizierate of Kara Mustafa Pasha of Merzifon and became governor of Crete; in the seventh of Şevval 1089 he became mutasarrıf of Amasya "as a has holding" for the sixth time, but on the twenty-first day of Muharrem 1092 he died in Rethymno.
He was prudent, strong, very courageous and a master of administration. He was widely known in history as "the Spider," and in Amasya as "Kayalı Pasha." He is buried at the foot of the minaret of the mosque he had built in Rethymno. I visited his grave and copied the inscription on the gravestone. Alas, it has burned.
He has mosques, schools and waqfs in Chania, Candia and Rethymno. He also had a mosque and a school built in his homeland Kayabaşı; he endowed his Kayabaşı estate to cover the expenses of these charitable works. His daughter Ümmihânî Hanım is well known; his son-in-law is Hacı Nebîzâde Şeyhülharem Ali Efendi son of Ahmed Ağa of Amasya. It is established by waqf deeds that his sister's son, the Chief Architect of the Imperial Household Hasan Efendi son of Hüseyin Bey of Amasya, was the agent who ran Ümmihânî Hanım's affairs.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- züamâ: zeamet holders; mounted soldiers holding timars of high revenue
- tîr-endâz: archer
- hâs ahûr: the palace stable that cared for the sultan's horses
- mîr-i ahûr: imrahor, head of the palace stables
- mîr-livâ: sanjak governor
- ber-vech-i hass: as a has holding, given with special revenue
- mutasarrıf: administrator and revenue holder of a sanjak
- serdâr, ser-asker: campaign commander
- mensî: forgotten
- isnâd-ı rehâvet: accusation of slackness
- mahkûk: carved, written on stone
- hayfâ: alas, unfortunately
- şeyhü'l-harem: the official in charge of the sanctuaries in Mecca and Medina
- ser-mimâr-ı hâssa: chief architect of the imperial household
- kerîme: daughter
- hemşîrezâde: sister's son
The Pasha of Crete
The pasha, called Ankebût (Ankebûd) in the official records, is one of the names of the Cretan war and of the first administration of the island. Ankebût is Arabic for "spider"; Hüsameddin's nickname "the Spider" is its Turkish equivalent. In one of the sources narrating the Ottoman Cretan campaign, the execution of Tavukçu Mustafa Pasha, serdar of Crete in 1659, is narrated under the same heading as "the serdarship of Crete of Ankebûd Ahmed Pasha." After the fall of Candia, Ankebût Ahmed Pasha was also appointed to the beylerbeyilik of the province. The date Hüsameddin gives, "the third day of Receb 1071, serdar of Crete," corresponds to 1661; another record also says that Ahmed Pasha was brought to the serdarship of Crete in 1661.
On the Date and Place of Death
Hüsameddin ties the death to the twenty-first day of Muharrem 1092 (February 1681) and to Rethymno. A cultural inventory record, however, writes that Ahmed Pasha died in Chania in 1680. The same record also reports that the waqf deed drawn up in the name of Ankebûd Ahmed Pasha son of Ali Bey, guardian of Crete, is dated 10 Rebîülâhir 1091 (10 May 1680). Two problems are seen here: the date of death differs by a year, and the place of death by a city; the father's name also appears as Mehmed Bey in Hüsameddin and as Ali Bey in the waqf record. These discrepancies could not be resolved with the sources at hand; for a definite judgment one would need to look at the deed itself.
Hüsameddin speaks of the conquest of Candia in 1081. Candia, however, passed into Ottoman hands by the treaty signed on 9 Rebîülâhir 1080 (6 September 1669); the end of the siege, which lasted two and a half years, is a year before the year in the book.
His Charitable Works in Crete
Hüsameddin's information that he had mosques in Chania, Candia and Rethymno is supported by the sources. The Ankebût Ahmed Pasha Mosque in Rethymno, located in the bazaar and converted from a church, is also known as the Uzunyol Mosque. There was also a mosque of Ankebût Ahmed Pasha at Ierapetra in the south of Crete; today this building is used as the Church of Agios Ioannes. The building has a plain rectangular plan, and when it was converted to a church a door was added to its west façade, an apse to its east façade, and a bell tower to its roof.
Kayabaşı and the Pehlivan Village
The village of Kayabaşı in Amasya today belongs to the central district and, in 2021, was a settlement of 617 inhabitants. In Hüsameddin's footnote the mosque is recorded as "the Ahmed Pasha mosque in the village of Pehlivân," and it is noted that the village of Pehlivân was the center of the Kayabaşı vineyards. This also matches the pasha being Pehlivânzâde. No source was found on the present state of the mosque in the village.
A Rumor
The claim that in 1067 Ahmed Pasha tried to seize the grand vizierate is a rumor that Hüsameddin relays with "it was said"; it is not based on a document. No information on this event was found in other sources. The pasha's relationship with the sanjak of Amasya is counted in the text as six separate appointments; no other record confirming this number was found.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 175–176. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Other sources